Living Make A Better Place example essay topic

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal". I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today. Martin Luther King, probably the most famous activist in all of history, now tell me in all seriousness, how many people do you think there are out there that can't stand up and say, "Martin Luther King, yes I know him", not many I'll tell you that. He is but only one man and look at his impact upon the world in the past and still continuing to this very day.

What this man did has changed our world forever, he single-handedly took something that was corrupting our very planet, something that he felt passionate about, something that in his view had to change, he took it and he did something about it, he made a difference. The funny thing about this is, Martin Luther King is only one of many, many throughout history who have risen up against all odds and made a difference in one way or another, Ghandi, Joan of Arc, William Wallace, Nelson Mandela, Germaine Greer, Albert Einstein, Edmund Rice, the list goes on and on. 'Schindler's List' is an example of one small man making a huge difference, risking everything to defy all odds and better his life and the life of others around him. Michael Jackson, a man of passion, a man of kindness, a man of giving, he uses his star status to help those less fortunate than him, he tries to make a difference in the world with his music and his support. Patch Adams, a man who knows not of the word selfish, he is a one man miracle, what he has done for so many is an inspiration to all. How do we make a difference?

Now that is the question. To try or not to try? If we do try and do something, in all seriousness how much of a difference is it going to make? Well not a lot I used to think, but you have to go deeper than just the immediate surrounding results of what you do, you have to look at the big picture. Of course there's the seldom occurrence of someone single-handedly changing the lives of many, like that done by Oscar Schindler. But for the everyday average Jo Blow, no one special, just people like you and me, how could we possibly make even a slight difference let alone change the world in any way shape or form.

Well it can all be summed up by one word, UNITE. Take cleaning up our country for example, Australia's situation on rubbish is a lot like that of our school's, it just doesn't seem to clear up, whenever it starts looking good, bam, the rubbish just seems to reappear. For every person out there picking up a paper there is another dropping one, so every effort to clean up our cities is waisted. Now think, if one person that used to litter stopped doing so, not only is their rubbish not polluting our land anymore but it also allows those who would usually pick it up to instead attend to other rubbish. Slowly but eventually if many people started to adopt the attitude that they could make a difference, the rubbish situation would of course get better and better till it finally cleared up and this my friend is where you are looking at the bigger picture. It's not just simply one person in yourself trying to make a difference, but you are joining an already large body of people fighting for a cause, and if enough people join in the fight than not only will you win the struggle, but your bound to do more than you even imagined.

So I mean, you can sit back and look at those famous people throughout history who have taken matters into their own hands and done something about it, in some cases even single-handedly changing a country or even the world You can sit back and go, nup uh uh, no way is that possible. You can do this, which is fair enough because in all seriousness it would take a miracle for someone like you or I to solely rid our city let alone our country or the world of hunger and poverty. But if we use this big picture I talked of, and start small, just do the best we can, donate some money hear, volunteer for this, support that, then eventually the situation will improve as the body of followers becomes larger and as this body grows the impact of their actions becomes wider spread till, yes, you have done the impossible, you " ve stopped world hunger, or you " ve achieved world piece, or you " ve cleared your country of pollution, or you " ve saved a species of animal. You name it, and as long as we work together as one and everyone does there little bit, than anything is possible.

You may not think you can make a difference, but trust me, if you join those countless amounts of people out there who think the same as you and decide "yes I can", then be prepared for some amazing results. Upon studying the lyrics from certain songs on Michael Jackson's 'Dangerous' CD I found that he to has aspirations of changing the world, or different situations in the world that he feels passionate about. He can be put in the same category as princess Di, he is very thoughtful, giving, and is willing to do the best to help those less fortunate than him or those in need. Although he does have an advantage over us in his ability to make a difference in the things he deems necessary, that being his superstar status, his ridiculous amount of money and the ability of his to make a difference world wide through the use of music. Many a person has this man put himself out to help, his reasoning for doing so, well I guess he's just trying to do his bit, trying to (as one of his songs suggest), make the world a better place. Now alongside the many donations, priceless support and widespread joy he brings to those in need, he also uses his music and song writing abilities to reach out to people and try to make them see what he sees, try to make them feel what he feels, try to make them fight for what he believes needs fighting for.

He puts his feelings, opinions and beliefs into poetic sentences that he compiles into a harmonic structure which in turn is sung to the world in a song. Probably the most dominant of his songs to me would have to be that of 'Heal The World'. A song where he asks the people of the world to open up their hearts and realise that they can make a brighter tomorrow if only they let their love override the darkness and sorrow. He sings: "Heal the world make it a better place for you and for me and the entire human race there are people dying if you care enough for the living make a better place for you and for me" So he's asking all the people to open up their arms, and do their best to better our own lives and the lives of those around us.

Another song of his, 'JAM', begins with the notion of working together as one body to resolve the problems in our lives. He to sees that we can make a difference individually but in the end it's all those individuals working together that really make the difference. In this songs intro he also hints that we should attend the problems we see in life and not just leave them be so they can sit there and develop into bigger problems. "Nation to nation all the world must get together face the problems that we see then maybe somehow we can work it out" In the world of Patch Adams, laughter is the best medicine, whether this is true or not doesn't concern me, it's the sheer amount of giving in his life and the amount of joy he brings to those in need that is what I'm concerned with. It is unbelievable how huge an impact this one man, this one small man, has had on so many people around him. Patch has not a selfish bone in his body, he's the first person to be there when someone is in need of help and is the last to leave.

As mentioned in the article, Adam's intention is to create a caring world, and so that is why he practises "universal friendliness", greeting all who cross his path, engaging strangers in conversation, and publicly celebrating life, with all of its imperfections. He encourages everyone to try it, if only you put yourself out for just one hour to make someone less fortunate than you, a total stranger, or even someone better off than you, fell happy or content with themselves, than the world would be a happier place. If we all did our best to make everyone feel comfortable and welcome in all situations then life would be a much more enjoyable experience not only for the people we share with but also for ourselves in return. He says that we do not have to travel to countries of hunger and poverty, countries of war and depression, countries less fortunate, all we have to do is walk down the road, close our eyes, count to 30, open our eyes and engage the first person we see in some friendly conversation, maybe even grab some lunch with them.

Patch obviously decided he could make a difference, his story is a true inspiration to all that know of it, and he has made such a huge difference in so many people's lives around the world. That just goes to show that even one person can make a huge difference, by themselves or with the help of many others. Now although Patch has had such a huge impact on many people of the world single-handedly already, he is now hoping that everyone that knows of his story will draw inspiration from it and follow in his footsteps, making it not just a single man, but an entire body working to make the world a more caring and happier place to be, pushing his cause to higher grounds, probably beyond what he could have ever imagined. Joined to the article is Patch's advice on the small things that we can all do to help strive for the bigger picture. So although it may be hard or seem near impossible for one person to make a large-scale difference in the world, what we can do is all the little things that will help work towards reaching the final goal, whatever that may be. It is all in the mind set, the reason why many things are wrong in our world today is due to the thinking that, NO, we as individuals can't make a difference, and hopefully from what you " ve read previously you " ve seen that as long as we keep a positive attitude towards our actions then there's bound to be many more people out their that will be doing the same as you and will all eventually end up working together as one and make a difference in the world we live in.

We saw this with the achievements of Patch Adams and who knows you might even be the next.